![Handwritten subject card](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Handwritten_subject_card..JPG)
In
library and information science
Library and information science(s) or studies (LIS) is an interdisciplinary field of study that deals generally with organization, access, collection, and protection/regulation of information, whether in physical (e.g. art, legal proceedings, e ...
, cataloging (
US) or cataloguing (
UK) is the process of creating
metadata
Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including:
* Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...
representing information
resource
Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their ...
s, such as books, sound recordings, moving images, etc. Cataloging provides information such as author's names, titles, and subject terms that describe resources, typically through the creation of
bibliographic record A bibliographic record is an entry in a bibliographic index (or a library catalog) which represents and describes a specific resource. A bibliographic record contains the data elements necessary to help users identify and retrieve that resource, as ...
s. The records serve as surrogates for the stored information resources. Since the 1970s these metadata are in
machine-readable form and are indexed by information retrieval tools, such as
bibliographic database
A bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records, an organized digital collection of references to published literature, including journal and newspaper articles, conference proceedings, reports, government and legal publications, p ...
s or
search engine
A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in a ...
s. While typically the cataloging process results in the production of
library catalog
A library catalog (or library catalogue in British English) is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations. A catalog for a group of libraries is also c ...
s, it also produces other types of discovery tools for
document
A document is a written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ''Documentum'', which denotes a "teaching" or ...
s and collections.
Bibliographic control provides the philosophical basis of cataloging, defining the rules that sufficiently describes information resources, to enable users find and select the most appropriate resource. A cataloger is an individual responsible for the processes of description, subject analysis, classification, and
authority control
In information science, authority control is a process that organizes information, for example in library catalogs, by using a single, distinct spelling of a name (heading) or a numeric identifier for each topic. The word ''authority'' in ''aut ...
of library materials. Catalogers serve as the "foundation of all library service, as they are the ones who organize information in such a way as to make it easily accessible".
Cataloging different kinds of materials
Cataloging is a process made in different kinds of institutions (e.g.
libraries
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
,
archive
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
s and
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
s) and about different kinds of materials, such as books, pictures, museum objects etc. The literature of library and information science is dominated by library cataloging, but it is important to consider other forms of cataloging. For example, there are special systems for cataloging museum objects that have been developed, e.g., ''Nomenclature for Museum Cataloging''. Also, some formats have been developed in some opposition to library cataloging formats, for example, ''the common communication format'' for bibliographical databases. About cataloging different kinds of cultural objects, see O'Keefe and Oldal (2017).
Six functions of bibliographic control
Ronald Hagler identified six functions of bibliographic control.
*"Identifying the existence of all types of information resources as they are made available."
[Taylor, Arlene G., & Daniel N. Joudrey (2009). ''The organization of information''. 3rd ed. Englewood: Libraries Unlimited, p. 5] The existence and identity of an information resource must be known before it can be found.
*"Identifying the works contained within those information resources or as parts of them."
Depending on the level of granularity required, multiple works may be contained in a single package, or one work may span multiple packages. For example, is a single photo considered an information resource? Or can a collection of photos be considered an information resource?
*"Systematically pulling together these information resources into collections in libraries,
archive
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
s,
museums
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
, and Internet communication files, and other such depositories."
Essentially, acquiring these items into collections so that they can be of use to the user.
*"Producing lists of these information resources prepared according to standard rules for citation."
[Taylor and Joudrey, p. 6] Examples of such retrieval aids include library catalogs, indexes, archival
finding aids
A finding aid, in the context of archival science, is an organization tool, a document containing detailed, indexed, and processed metadata and other information about a specific collection of records within an archive. Finding aids often consist o ...
, etc.
*"Providing name, title, subject, and other useful access to these information resources."
Ideally, there should be many ways to find an item so there should be multiple access points. There must be enough
metadata
Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including:
* Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...
in the surrogate record so users can successfully find the information resource they are looking for. These access points should be consistent, which can be achieved through
authority control
In information science, authority control is a process that organizes information, for example in library catalogs, by using a single, distinct spelling of a name (heading) or a numeric identifier for each topic. The word ''authority'' in ''aut ...
.
*"Providing the means of locating each information resource or a copy of it." In libraries, the
online public access catalog (OPAC) can give the user location information (a
call number
A library classification is a system of organization of knowledge by which library resources are arranged and ordered systematically. Library classifications are a notational system that represents the order of topics in the classification and al ...
for example) and indicate whether the item is available.
History of bibliographic control
While the organization of information has been going on since antiquity, bibliographic control as we know it today is a more recent invention. Ancient civilizations recorded lists of books onto tablets and libraries in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
kept records of their holdings. With the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, multiple copies of a single book could be produced quickly.
Johann Tritheim
Johannes Trithemius (; 1 February 1462 – 13 December 1516), born Johann Heidenberg, was a German Benedictine abbot and a polymath who was active in the German Renaissance as a lexicographer, chronicler, cryptographer, and occultist. He is consi ...
, a German librarian, was the first to create a bibliography in chronological order with an alphabetical author index.
Conrad Gessner
Conrad Gessner (; la, Conradus Gesnerus 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly realised his tale ...
followed in his footsteps in the next century as he published an author bibliography and subject index. He added to his bibliography an alphabetical list of authors with inverted names, which was a new practice. He also included references to variant spellings of author's names, a precursor to authority control.
Andrew Maunsell
Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...
further revolutionized bibliographic control by suggesting that a book should be findable based on the author's last name, the subject of the book, and the translator. In the 17th century
Sir Thomas Bodley
Sir Thomas Bodley (2 March 1545 – 28 January 1613) was an English diplomat and scholar who founded the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
Origins
Thomas Bodley was born on 2 March 1545, in the second-to-last year of the reign of King Henry VIII, ...
was interested in a catalog arranged alphabetically by author's last name as well as subject entries.
Sir Robert Cotton's library catalogued books with busts of famous Romans. The busts were organized by their name, i.e. N for Nero, and then came the shelf with its assigned letter, and then the roman numeral of the title's number. For example, the cataloging for ''The
Lindisfarne Gospels
The Lindisfarne Gospels (London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D.IV) is an illuminated manuscript gospel book probably produced around the years 715–720 in the monastery at Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, which is now in the B ...
'' reads Nero D IV. Cotton's cataloging method is still in use for his collection in the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
. In 1697,
Frederic Rostgaard Frederic may refer to:
Places United States
* Frederic, Wisconsin, a village in Polk County
* Frederic Township, Michigan, a township in Crawford County
** Frederic, Michigan, an unincorporated community
Other uses
* Frederic (band), a Japanese r ...
called for subject arrangement that was subdivided by both chronology and by size (whereas in the past titles were arranged by their size only), as well as an index of subjects and authors by last name and for word order in titles to be preserved based on the title page.
After the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, France's government was the first to put out a national code containing instructions for cataloging library collections. At the British Museum Library
Anthony Panizzi
Sir Antonio Genesio Maria Panizzi (16 September 1797 – 8 April 1879), better known as Anthony Panizzi, was a naturalised British citizen of Italian birth, and an Italian patriot. He was a librarian, becoming the Principal Librarian (i.e. head ...
created his "Ninety-One Cataloging Rules" (1841), which essentially served as the basis for cataloging rules of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Charles C. Jewett applied Panizzi's "91 Rules" at the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
.
Types of cataloging
Descriptive cataloging
"Descriptive cataloging" is a well-established concept in the tradition of library cataloging in which a distinction is made between descriptive cataloging and subject cataloging, each applying a set of standards, different qualifications and often also different kinds of professionals. In the tradition of documentation and information science (e.g., by commercial bibliographical databases) the concept document representation (also as verb: document representing) have mostly been used to cover both "descriptive" and "subject" representation. Descriptive cataloging has been defined as "the part of cataloging concerned with describing the physical details of a book, such as the form and choice of entries and the title page transcription."
Subject cataloging
Subject cataloging
may take the form of classification or (subject) Indexing.
Classification Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood.
Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes.
It may also refer to:
Business, organizat ...
involves the assignment of a given document to a class in a classification system (such as
Dewey Decimal Classification
The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), colloquially known as the Dewey Decimal System, is a proprietary library classification system which allows new books to be added to a library in their appropriate location based on subject.
Section 4.1 ...
or the
Library of Congress Subject Headings
The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) comprise a thesaurus (in the information science sense, a controlled vocabulary) of subject headings, maintained by the United States Library of Congress, for use in bibliographic records. LC Subject ...
).
Indexing is the assignment of characterizing labels to the documents represented in a record.
Classification typically uses a
controlled vocabulary
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controlling ...
, while indexing may use a controlled vocabulary, free terms, or both.
History
![Location of Union Catalog in 1927 on sorting deck (deck 27) of the Southeast stack of the Library of Congress](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Location_of_Union_Catalog_in_1927_on_sorting_deck_%28deck_27%29_of_the_Southeast_stack_of_the_Library_of_Congress.jpg)
Libraries have made use of catalogs in some form since ancient times. The very earliest evidence of categorization is from a ca. 2500 BCE collection of
clay tablet
In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets (Akkadian ) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age.
Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay tablet with a stylu ...
s marked in
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
script from
Nippur
Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory': Vol. 1, Part 1. Accessed 15 Dec 2010. Akkadian language, Akkadian: '' ...
, an ancient
Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
ian city in present-day
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, wherein two lists of works of Sumerian literature of various myths, hymns, and laments are listed. As one tablet had 62 titles, and the other 68, with 43 titles common between them, and 25 new titles in the latter, they are thought to comprise a catalog of the same collection at different periods of time.
The
library of Ashurbanipal
The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, named after Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Assyrian Empire, is a collection of more than 30,000 clay tablets and fragments containing texts of all kinds from the 7th century BC, including texts in vari ...
in ancient
Nineveh
Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ban ...
is the first library known to have a classification system on clay tablets. They had cuneiform marks on each side of the tablet.
[ The ]Library of Alexandria
The Great Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. The Library was part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion, which was dedicated to the Muses, th ...
is reported to have had at least a partial catalog consisting of a listing by Callimachus
Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide variety ...
of the Greek literature called "Pinakes
The ''Pinakes'' ( grc, Πίνακες "tables", plural of ) is a lost bibliographic work composed by Callimachus (310/305–240 BCE) that is popularly considered to be the first library catalog in the West; its contents were based upon the hold ...
". There were originally 825 fragments of Callimachus' "Pinakes", but only 25 of them have survived. The Chinese Imperial Library of the Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
of the 3rd century A.D. had a catalog listing nearly 30,000 items, each item similar in extent of its content to a Western scroll. The first catalogs in the Islamic world
The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. In ...
, around the 11th century, were lists of books donated to libraries by persons in the community. These lists were ordered by donor, not by bibliographic information, but they provided a record of the library's inventory.
Many early and medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
libraries in Europe were associated with religious institutions and orders, including the Papal library in Rome. The first Vatican Library
The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...
catalog is from the late 14th century. These catalogs generally used a topical arrangement that reflected the topical arrangement of the books themselves. The Vatican Library published 'rules for the catalog of printed books' in 1939. These rules were then translated to English and published in the United States in 1949. Back in Medieval times, the library of the Sorbonne in Paris had accumulated more than one thousand books, and in 1290 their catalog pioneered the use of the alphabet as an organizing tool.
It was the growth in libraries after the invention of moveable-type printing and the widespread availability of paper that created the necessity for a catalog that organized the library's materials so that they could be found through the catalog rather than "by walking around." By the 17th century libraries became seen as collections of universal knowledge. Two 17th century authors, Gabriel Naudé
Gabriel Naudé (2 February 1600 – 10 July 1653) was a French librarian and scholar. He was a prolific writer who produced works on many subjects including politics, religion, history and the supernatural. An influential work on library science ...
, in France, and John Dury
John Dury (1596 in Edinburgh – 1680 in Kassel) was a Scottish Calvinist minister and an intellectual of the English Civil War period. He made efforts to re-unite the Calvinist and Lutheran wings of Protestantism, hoping to succeed when he moved ...
, in Scotland, both developed theories of systematic organization of libraries. The development of principles and rules that would guide the librarian in the creation of catalogs followed. The history of cataloging begins at this point.
In ancient times in the orient the title was used to identify the work. Since the renaissance the author has been the main source of identification.
Cataloging standards
Cataloging rules have been defined to allow for consistent cataloging of various library materials across several persons of a cataloging team and across time.
Anglo-American cataloging standards
The English-speaking libraries have shared cataloging standards since the early 1800s. The first such standard is attributed to Anthony Panizzi
Sir Antonio Genesio Maria Panizzi (16 September 1797 – 8 April 1879), better known as Anthony Panizzi, was a naturalised British citizen of Italian birth, and an Italian patriot. He was a librarian, becoming the Principal Librarian (i.e. head ...
, the Keeper of the Printed Books of the British Museum Library. His 91 rules, published in 1841, formed the basis for cataloging standards for over 150 years.
Subsequent work in the 19th century was done by Charles Coffin Jewett
Charles Coffin Jewett (August 12, 1816 – January 9, 1868) was an American librarian, in 1848 becoming the Librarian and Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution before being appointed superintendent of the Boston Public Library in ...
, head of the Smithsonian library, which at the time was positioned to become the national library of the United States. Jewett used stereotype plates to produce the library's catalog in book form, and proposed the sharing of cataloging among libraries. His rules were published in 1853. A disagreement with the head Smithsonian secretary caused Jewett to be dismissed from his position but soon after he accepted a position with the Boston Public Library. He was tasked with purchasing books as well as arranging them. Jewett earned the role of director of the Boston Public Library in 1858; during this time the ''Index to the Catalogue of a Portion of the Public Library of the City of Boston Arranged in its Lower Hall'' was published. The article included new cataloging information alongside many of the Smithsonian cataloging rules that Jewett created. His systems became a model for other libraries as he pushed for alphabetical card catalogs.
Jewett was followed by Charles Ammi Cutter
Charles Ammi Cutter (March 14, 1837 – September 6, 1903) was an American librarian. In the 1850s and 1860s he assisted with the re-cataloging of the Harvard College library, producing America's first public card catalog. The card system proved ...
, an American librarian whose ''Rules for a Dictionary Catalog'' were published in 1876. Cutter championed the concept of "ease of use" for library patrons.
In the 20th century, library cataloging was forced to address new formats for materials, including sound recordings, movies, and photographs. Seymour Lubetzky
Seymour Lubetzky (April 28, 1898 – April 5, 2003) was a major cataloging theorist and a prominent librarian.
Biography
Born in the Russian Empire as Shmaryahu Lubetzky, he worked for years at the Library of Congress. He worked as a teacher befo ...
, once an employee of the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
and later a professor at UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, wrote a critique of the 1949 ALA rules for entry, ''Cataloging Rules and Principles: A Critique of the ALA Rules for Entry and a Proposed Design for the Revision''. Lubetzky's writings revealed the weaknesses in the existing rules, and spoke to the need for preparing a set of standards for a more complete and succinct code. As changes in culture over time would necessitate an ever-increasing/changing list of rules, Lubetzky "helped remedy the situation by advocating the concept of cataloging according to 'basic principles,' in place of a rule for each case that might arise." He was tasked to do extensive studies of the current cataloging rules over the time period from 1946 to 1969. His analyses shaped the subsequent cataloging rules.
The published American and Anglo-American cataloging rules in the 20th century were:
* Anglo-American rules:
* American Library Association rules:
* Library of Congress rules:
* AACR:
* AACR2:
* AACR2-R:
The 21st century brought renewed thinking about library cataloging, in great part based on the increase in the number of digital formats, but also because of a new consciousness of the nature of the "Work" in the bibliographic context, often attributed to the principles developed by Lubetzky. This was also supported by the work of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records
Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR ) is a conceptual entity–relationship model developed by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) that relates user tasks of retrieval and access in onlin ...
(FRBR), which emphasized the role of the work in the bibliographic context. FRBR created a tiered view of the bibliographic entity from Item, Manifestation, Expression, to Work. Item refers to the physical form of the book. Manifestation refers to the publication. Expression meaning the translation of the book from other languages. Work refers to the content and ideas of the book. This view was incorporated into the cataloging rules subsequent to AACR2-R, known as Resource Description and Access
Resource Description and Access (RDA) is a standard for descriptive cataloging initially released in June 2010, providing instructions and guidelines on formulating bibliographic data. Intended for use by libraries and other cultural organization ...
(RDA).
England
The Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
at Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
developed its cataloging code in 1674. The code emphasized authorship, and books by the same author were listed together in the catalog.
We can trace the origins of modern library cataloging practice back to the 1830s and Anthony Panizzi's 91 rules. Panizzi's singular insight was that a large catalog needed consistency in its entries if it was to serve the user. The first major English-language cataloging code was that developed by Sir Anthony Panizzi for the British Museum catalog. Panizzi's 91 rules were approved by the British Museum in 1839, and published in 1841. The British Museum rules were revised up until 1936. The library departments of the British Museum became part of the new British Library in 1973.
Germany and Prussia
The Prussian government set standard rules called (PI) (Prussian Instructions) for all of its libraries in 1899.
These rules were based on the earlier of the University Library at Breslau by Karl Franz Otto Dziatzko
Karl Franz Otto Dziatzko (27 January 1842 - 13 January 1903, Göttingen) was a German librarian and scholar, born in Neustadt, Silesia. .
The Prussian Instructions were a standardized system of cataloging rules. Titles in literature are arranged grammatically not mechanically and literature is entered under its title. These were adopted throughout Germany, Prussia and Austria.
After the adoption of the Paris Principles Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include:
Listed by name
Paris Accords
may refer to:
* Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germa ...
(PP) in 1961, Germany developed the (RAK) in 1976/1977.
The goal of the Paris Principles was to serve as a basis for international standardization in cataloging. Most of the cataloging codes that were developed worldwide since that time have followed the Paris Principles.
Cataloging codes
Cataloging codes prescribe which information about a bibliographic item is included in the entry and how this information is presented for the user; It may also aid to sort the entries in printing (parts of) the catalog.
Currently, most cataloging codes are similar to, or even based on, the International Standard Bibliographic Description The International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) is a set of rules produced by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) to create a bibliographic description in a standard, human-readable form, especial ...
(ISBD), a set of rules produced by the (IFLA) to describe a wide range of library materials. These rules organize the bibliographic description of an item in the following eight areas: title and statement of responsibility (author or editor), edition, material specific details (for example, the scale of a map), publication and distribution, physical description (for example, number of pages), series, notes, and standard number (ISBN
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.
An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition and ...
). There is an initiative called the Bibliographic Framework (Bibframe) that is "an initiative to evolve bibliographic description standards to a linked data model, in order to make bibliographic information more useful both within and outside the library community." The most commonly used cataloging code in the English-speaking world was the ''Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules
Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...
, 2nd edition'' (AACR2). AACR2 provides rules for ''descriptive cataloging'' only and does not touch upon ''subject cataloging''. AACR2 has been translated into many languages, for use around the world. The German-speaking world uses the ''Regeln für die alphabetische Katalogisierung'' (RAK), also based on ISBD. The Library of Congress implemented the transition to RDA from AACR2 in March 2013.
In subject databases such as Chemical Abstracts, MEDLINE and PsycINFO, the Common Communication Format (CCF) is meant to serve as a baseline standard. Different standards prevail in archives and museums, such as CIDOC-CRM. Resource Description and Access
Resource Description and Access (RDA) is a standard for descriptive cataloging initially released in June 2010, providing instructions and guidelines on formulating bibliographic data. Intended for use by libraries and other cultural organization ...
(RDA) is a recent attempt to make a standard that crosses the domains of cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soci ...
institutions.
Digital formats
Most libraries currently use the MARC standards
MARC (machine-readable cataloging) standards are a set of digital formats for the description of items catalogued by libraries, such as books, DVDs, and digital resources. Computerized library catalogs and library management software need to st ...
—first piloted from January 1966 to June 1968 —to encode and transport bibliographic data.
These standards have seen critiques in recent years for being old, unique to the library community, and difficult to work with computationally. The Library of Congress developed BIBFRAME BIBFRAME (Bibliographic Framework) is a data model for bibliographic description. BIBFRAME was designed to replace the MARC standards, and to use linked data principles to make bibliographic data more useful both within and outside the library com ...
in 2011, an RDA schema for expressing bibliographic data. BIBFRAME was revised and piloted in 2017 by the Library of Congress, but still is not available to the public. It will first be available to vendors to try out, but afterwards there will be a hybrid form of the system (MARC and BIBFRAME) until the data can be fully translated.
Library digital collections often use simpler digital formats to store their metadata. XML-based schemata, particularly Dublin Core
220px, Logo image of DCMI, which formulates Dublin Core
The Dublin Core, also known as the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (DCMES), is a set of fifteen "core" elements (properties) for describing resources. This fifteen-element Dublin Core has ...
and MODS, are typical for bibliographic data about these collections.
Transliteration
Library items that are written in a foreign script are, in some cases, transliterated
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...
to the script of the catalog. In the United States and some other countries, catalogers typically use the ALA-LC romanization
ALA-LC (American Library AssociationLibrary of Congress) is a set of standards for romanization, the representation of text in other writing systems using the Latin script.
Applications
The system is used to represent bibliographic information by ...
tables for this work. If this is not done, there would need to be separate catalogs for each script.
Ethical issues
Ferris maintains that catalogers, in using their judgment and specialized viewpoint, uphold the integrity of the catalog and also provide "added value" to the process of bibliographic control, resulting in added findability for a library's user community. This added value also has the power to harm, resulting in the denial of access to information.[ Mistakes and biases in cataloging records can "stigmatize groups of people with inaccurate or demeaning labels, and create the impression that certain points of view are more normal than others".]
Social responsibility in cataloging is the "fair and equitable access to relevant, appropriate, accurate, and uncensored information in a timely manner and free of bias".[ In order to act ethically and in a socially responsible manner, catalogers should be aware of how their judgments benefit or harm findability. They should be careful to not misuse or misrepresent information through inaccurate or minimal-level cataloging and to not purposely or inadvertently censor information.][
Bair states that it is the professional obligation of catalogers to supply thorough, accurate, high-quality surrogate records for databases and that catalogers also have an ethical obligation to "contribute to the fair and equitable access to information."][ Bair recommends that catalogers "actively participate in the development, reform, and fair application of cataloging rules, standards, and classifications, as well as information-storage and retrieval systems".][ As stated by Knowlton, access points "should be what a particular type of library patron would be most likely to search under -- regardless of the notion of ]universal bibliographic control Universal Bibliographic Control (UBC) was a concept championed by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Under the theoretical UBC, any document would only be cataloged once in its country of origin, and that r ...
."
A formal code of ethics for catalogers does not exist, and thus catalogers often follow library or departmental policy to resolve conflicts in cataloging. While the American Library Association created a "Code of Ethics", Ferris notes that it has been criticized for being too general to encompass the special skills that set catalogers apart from other library and information professionals. As stated by Tavani, a code of ethics for catalogers can "inspire, guide, educate, and discipline" (as cited in Bair, 2005, p. 22). Bair suggests that an effective code of ethics for catalogers should be aspirational and also "discuss specific conduct and actions in order to serve as a guide in actual situations". Bair has also laid out the beginnings for a formal code of cataloging ethics in "Toward a Code of Ethics for Cataloging."[
]
Criticism
Sanford Berman
Sanford Berman (born October 6, 1933) is a librarian (specifically, a cataloger). He is known for radicalism, promoting alternative viewpoints in librarianship, and acting as a proactive information conduit to other librarians around the world. ...
, former Head Cataloger of the Hennepin County Library
Hennepin County Library is a public library system serving Hennepin County, Minnesota, US. The current iteration of Hennepin County Library was formed by the merger of urban Minneapolis Public Library and suburban Hennepin County Library on Ja ...
in Minnetonka, Minnesota, has been a leading critic of biased headings in the Library of Congress Subject Headings
The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) comprise a thesaurus (in the information science sense, a controlled vocabulary) of subject headings, maintained by the United States Library of Congress, for use in bibliographic records. LC Subject ...
. Berman's 1971 publication ''Prejudices and Antipathies: A Tract on the LC Subject Heads Concerning People'' (''P&A'') has sparked the movement to correct biased subject headings. In ''P&A'', Berman listed 225 headings with proposed alterations, additions, or deletions and cross-references to "more accurately reflect the language used in addressing these topics, to rectify errors of bias, and to better guide librarians and readers to material of interest". Berman is well known for his "care packages," mailings containing clippings and other materials in support of changes to subject headings and against racism, sexism, homophobia, and governmental secrecy, among other areas for concern.
In "Three Decades Since ''Prejudices and Antipathies'': A Study of Changes in the Library of Congress Subject Headings," Knowlton examines ways in which the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) has changed by compiling a table of changes described in ''P&A'', followed by the current status of headings in question. Knowlton states that his intent for this table is to "show how many of Berman's proposed changes have been implemented" and "which areas of bias are still prevalent in LCSH." In the discussion of Knowlton's findings, it is revealed that of the 225 headings suggested for change by Berman, only 88 (39%) have been changed exactly or very closely to his suggestions (p. 127). Another 54 (24%) of headings have been changed but only partially resolve Berman's objections, and "(which) may leave other objectionable wording intact or introduce a different shade of bias." 80 (36%) headings were not changed at all according to Berman's suggestions.
Queer theory and cataloging
Building on Berman's critique of cataloging practices, queer theorists
''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...
in library and information science such as Emily Drabinski, Amber Billey
Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...
and K.R. Roberto
KR is the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and WMO country code for South Korea.
KR or Kr may also refer to:
Sports
* KR (basketball club), associated with Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur
* Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, an Icelandic football club
* Kickoff ...
have written about the implications of creating stable categorizations for gender identities. Utilizing queer theory in conjunction with library classification and cataloging requires perspectives that can present both ethically and politically sound viewpoints that support marginalized persons such as women, people of color, or members of the LGBTQ+ community. This work has resulted in the modification of RDA Rule 9.7, governing how gender is represented in record creation. At the ALA Midwinter meeting in January 2016, the controlled vocabulary
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controlling ...
for gender in RDA was abolished, allowing catalogers and libraries to describe a person's gender in whatever terms best represent that person.
Cataloging terms
* or generally refers to the first author named on the item. Additional authors are added as "added entries." In cases where no clear author is named, the title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
of the work is considered the main entry.
* is a process of using a single, specific term for a person, place, or title to maintain consistency between access points within a catalog. Effective authority control prevents a user from having to search for multiple variations of a title, author, or term.
* refers to an approach in which libraries collaborate in the creation of bibliographic and authority records, establishing cataloging practices and utilizing systems that facilitate the use of shared records.
See also
* Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules
Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...
(AACR)
* Archival processing
* Bibliographer
Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...
* Cataloging in Publication
In publishing and library science, Cataloging in Publication (CIP, or Cataloguing in Publication) data are basic library catalog, cataloging data for a work, prepared before publication by the national library of the country where the work is prin ...
* Collaborative Cataloging (shared cataloging)
* Findability Findability is the ease with which information contained on a website can be found, both from outside the website (using search engines and the like) and by users already on the website. Although findability has relevance outside the World Wide Web, ...
* Information architecture
Information architecture (IA) is the structural design of shared information environments; the art and science of organizing and labelling websites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability; and an emerging ...
* Information retrieval
Information retrieval (IR) in computing and information science is the process of obtaining information system resources that are relevant to an information need from a collection of those resources. Searches can be based on full-text or other co ...
* ISO 690
ISO 690 is an ISO standard governing bibliographic references in different kinds of documents, including electronic documents. This international standard specifies the bibliographic elements that need to be included in references to published d ...
* Knowledge organization
Knowledge organization (KO), organization of knowledge, organization of information, or information organization is an intellectual discipline concerned with activities such as document description, indexing, and classification that serve to ...
* Shared Cataloging Program (SCP)
* Subject access point
References
Further reading
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{{Authority control
Library cataloging and classification